Nord Quantique Achieves Breakthrough in Quantum Error Correction with SPAM Errors Reduced to Below 0.1%

Nord Quantique announced a breakthrough in quantum error correction with state preparation and measurement errors reduced to below 0.1%. The Sherbrooke, Quebec-based company said it published a research paper demonstrating quantum error correction of a single-mode grid state qubit achieving the SPAM error rate, a roughly 100-fold improvement over prior results in comparable GKP-based systems. The company said the rate is now on par with error rates routinely seen in leading superconducting transmon qubit platforms. SPAM errors represent a fundamental challenge in quantum computing because even sophisticated error-correction protocols can be undermined by poorly prepared input states or unreliable readout. Nord Quantique said its research directly addresses this bottleneck and is compatible with its existing high-performance autonomous error correction. The gains stem from a repeat-until-success protocol based on post-selected stabilization, which uses quantum error correction itself to improve preparation fidelity. Rather than relying on real-time corrections and complex classical control systems, the approach prepares a state, verifies whether the preparation succeeded, and either keeps the result or discards it and repeats. The protocol is also adapted to prepare magic states required for non-Clifford operations essential to universal quantum computation. CEO Julien Camirand Lemyre said the breakthrough advances the company's mission to realize fault-tolerant quantum computing by 2030.